Notes from the Author: Recovering from two a two day tattoo session.

Welcome intrepid readers. Thanks for being here.

Philip the Bard will return tomorrow with more of his conversation with Max Gavaskar.

I spent the weekend recovering from a trip to Oregon and a day and a half being tattooed. Yes, I know that getting a tattoo is just sitting there trying not to cry but I was spent by the time I got home.

I wound up with some great body art and a visit with a great friend. It is a good thing to like you tattoo artist. If you do a major project with them, like I am, you wind up spending a lot of time together in very close quarters.

I am recovered now and will work on the blog later today.

In the mean time . . . Kusha should be out as a paperback on Amazon later this week. Look here for more information when things happen.

Never mix red wine with Oodo.

Earth Year 2014

Notes from the Author: Day two of tattoo session.

Greetings beloved readers. Thanks for being here.

Today is day two of a two day tattoo session. I'll post pictures on facebook some time next week.

So I wont post today beyond asking my readers to send me well wishes for a relatively pain free session.

Never mix red wind and Oodo.

Philip the Bard's Harappan Blog: Meeting Max Gavaskar

Welcome randy readers. Thanks for being here.

We’re discussing my visit with Max Gavaskar herself. Actually I should say my friend Dorian’s visit with her that I got to tag along with.

Despite her failing health she is as beautiful as ever. It is no wonder she’s had the influence she has. She is still a captivating person. She greeted Dorian and me from her reception bed. Behind her was a lovely view of the green rolling hills dotted with wildflowers of all colors. I am told her sleeping bed faces such a window.

After personal greetings with Dorian she turned to look at me. I am sure I blushed at that moment. There were times when we first met where I saw her as just a young woman, smart and pretty. I knew she had a special spark but I had no clue how bright it would flare. Now when I am near her and the other day when she looked right at me I felt a presence of someone very special. 

For generations to come people will talk about this woman and here she was talking to me like it was nothing. “Hi Philip,” She said. “How are the Gutterminds sounding these days?”

I wasn’t expecting that and I became flustered. I could say nothing better than, “We’re sounding fine Ma’am.”

“Oh, Philip.” She said while laughing, “You still wont call me Max.”

She cocked her head to one side and pretended to make a pleading face, “Please call me Max, Philip.”

I nodded, meekly.

Max and Dorian shared personal news about their respective families and Max asked me how Ina and our kids are. 

I looked around the room and thought about all the dignitaries that have passed through this room and there I was talking about the great grand kids learning to walk. I chuckled to my self but Max, always alert, noticed and asked what the smile was about. When I told her what I had been thinking she said;

“But Philip, talking about the great grand kids learning to walk is what this is all about. I’ve been all around the Milky Way, I’ve seen more than any human has a right to have seen but it all comes back to family and friends doesn’t it? All the work I did, all the time I spent away from my family, my friends, my lab, was so that everyone could spend more time with their loved ones without fear of harm or hunger.”

She looked at Dorian then back to me and said, “This conversation we’ve had this morning, about my kids, your kids, Dorian’s kids, bruised shins and scrapped elbows, all of it, is as important and meaningful as any diplomatic session that has ever taken place in this room.”

Note; Tomorrow “the Author” will be getting some new tattoo work at Raven’s Eye Body Art in Hood River Oregon. There may not be a post or there may be one from the tattoo shop. Either way Philip the Bard will return next week with more of his conversation with Max Gavaskar herself.

Never mix red wine and Oodo.

Philip Normer

Kushan Year 88

Earth Year 2480

Philip the Bard's Harappan Blog: Meeting Max Gavaskar

Welcome travelled readers. Thanks for being here.

This week I’m telling the story of my visit with Max Gavaskar last week. Yesterday we got as far as getting past Max’s gatekeeper. Her personal assistant Andrew led us to her room.

Of course, everyone knows that Max’s health is not great. No human has traveled as many space miles as she has and it put a strain on her cells. She is falling apart. Max Gavaskar is not even expected to live to a hundred. The Lors have offered to do some sort of mind transplant which would allow Max’s consciousness to live in in some sort of box. I know Max only slightly but I know she would never accept something like that.

Her health keeps Max in bed. She has a reception bed where she greets the near constant line of visitors and a separate bed where she sleeps. The reception bed has it’s own dome. From there is a wide view of the Gorge. I didn’t see the sleeping room. Max keeps big parts of her life secret. 

We briefly met with Dallas before going in to see Max. Dorian shared a hug with his son and they talked weather and such for a spell.

Then Dallas led us into his wife’s room.

Tomorrow our conversation with Max

Never mix red wine and Oodo.

Philip Normer

Kushan Year 88

Earth Year 2480

Philip the Bard's Harappan Blog: Going to Meet Max Gavaskar

Greetings festive readers. Thanks for being here. Kushan spring is upon us and life feels like new again.

I missed yesterday’s post because I was visiting with Max Gavaskar herself.

After breakfast my friend Dorian Thain picked me up at my house in a staff water car. We drove out of Harappa City on the Mandan Road. Max’s place is just a few clicks out of town. Tall trees let you see the location of her place from a long way off.

Her compound has trees and other plants from all arpound the galaxy. Anytime she could find a fland that could survive the environment of Kusha she brought one home for her garden. Quaranteen protocols prevented some of her collection but all the local schools bring their kids to Max’s garden to see the exotic plant life. Someday I’ll post about some of her botanical findings.

The structure is carved from a sandstone outcrop into a series of domes. Looking more like they grew out of the hillside than being constructed the beige, smooth spherical shells provide space for Max, her husband Dallas, her lab and rooms for visitors.

A natural spring is featured in the living room, an open space with curved windows that look out to the rolling hills and down to the Rodin River Gorge. The spring comes forth from a stone fountain on one wall and flows along a curved channel in the floor, some of it covered with plexi-shield and some open. Two of the spare bedrooms feature waterfalls.

Dorian and I were greeted by Andrew the groundskeeper. He directed us to a small office built in the same dome structure as the rest of the compound only seperate from the other domes. It was the office of Allan West, Max’s personal assistant. I’m sure Allan is very good at what he does, but . . . he doesn’t seem to understand Dorian Thain’s stature. I get that Max is famous all around the Milky Way and all, but Dorian has some pull too. What I’m trying to say is that Allan made us wait in his reception room. Dorian Thain, himself, waiting like any common solicitor. I’m kidding . . . slightly. I did get the hint that Mister West takes himself and his position very seriously.

We did, finally, get in to see Max and tomorrow I’ll tell you about our conversation.

Never mix red wine and Oodo.

Philip Normer

Kushan Year 88

Earth Year 2480

Notes from the Author: Books, Chickens, and Tattoos

Welcome gentle readers. Thanks for being here.

Towards the end of last week I trailed off on my blogging. I spent the week deep into two heavy projects. Preparing “Kusha” for publication and building a chicken coop.

Still working on the book. It should be out this week, but the chicken coop is finished and populated with eight chickens and one rooster.

I am enjoying watching their society develop. My wife and I had chickens at our herb farm some years ago so this is not my first attempt at being a chicken rancher. 

Chicken culture is not the most genteel society. They can be ornery creatures to each other. But, they have interesting and individual personalities. I’m looking forward to getting to know our flock. As I get to know them I’ll share their stories with you.

We only have one named so far. The white hen is Blanca. I get to name the rooster. I’ll wait to get to know him first.

For me the other big news of the week is that thursday and friday I have two tattoo appointments. I’ll be in Hood River Oregon at Raven’s Eye Body Art. I’ll try to post something from there.

Philip the Bard returns tomorrow.

Never mix red wine with Oodo.

Earth Year 2014

Notes from the Author: More on the Coop D'Ville and Kusha

Welcome fresh readers. Thanks for being here. Never mix red wine and Oodo . . . also never build a chicken coop and put out a book in the same week. I am so exhausted. One more day to go. We go get our chickens tomorrow. That means that I have to finish everything today.

There isn't that much to do but I am so sore and tired. The tasks remaining seem overwhelming from the view over my morning coffee cup. It looks like it is going to be a "blue hole" today, that's Pacific-northwestern for a sunny day, so it should be a fine day to finish this project.

As far as Kusha goes it is already available on Amazon for kindle. My computer skills are making formatting the cover an issue but I am enlisting the artist for her help. She is young and computer savy. It is good to have those kinds of people around, isn't it? So, hopefully, the paper back will be out next week. I'll keep you posted on that.

Never mix red wine and Oodo
Earth Year 2014

Notes from the Author: Chicken Coop / Kusha news.

Good morning wonderful readers. Thanks for being here.

Philip the Bard is taking today off. I have been deep into two major projects. First of all I'm in the process of getting out "Kusha" as a paper book. The Ebook became available yesterday.

Also I building a chicken coop for a flock of chickens due in saturday. Today I have to build the run and finish the coop.

And of course, I'll be working with the people a Create Space getting my latest book ready for publication. I should say that so far the people at Amazon have been wonderful to work with and the process has been very easy.

Never mix red wine with Oodo.
Earth Year 2014

Philip the Bard's Harappan Blog: "Kusha" is available today on Amazon

But first: Before we get to Philip the Bard's Harappan Blog, I am pleased to announce the release of "Kusha" on Amazon.com. It is only available as an ebook but next week it will also be in paperback. 

Greetings beloved readers. Thanks for being here.

Max Gavaskar’s story got interesting when she discovered that the SID’s starships were damaging the Gavaskar Field. Max was not the first one to discover this problem. What she was, was the first person who was willing to make this information public. Miles Sanderson found this as well as several other SID engineers, none of whom went public with this.

Max tried to tell her professor immediately. He made the mistake of mentioning this to some of his colleagues, one of which was an informant of the SID. The Professor was arrested and a warrant issued for Max, who was then known as Melanie.

Max made contact with the Paladin Society through Alice Toten. Alice arranged for Max to travel incognito to planet Lava and there stay with David Green. Sadly, mister Green was killed by accident just hours after meeting Max.

The novelization “The Gavaskar Field” tells the story of Max’s time running a saloon in the town of Salmo on planet Lava.

Tomorrow, I’ll share some stories from that time that weren’t in the novel.

Never mix red wine and Oodo.

Philip Normer

Kushan Year 88

Earth Year 2480

Philip the Bards' Harappan Blog: Meet Max Gavaskar

Greetings fine readers. Thanks for being here.

Next week we are visiting with Max Gavaskar herself. This week we’ll talk a little about her history. Most everyone in the Milky Way know who Max is but there may be some who do not. She was born on planet Harappa in Earth Year 2470. She grew up the the town of Sandon which is where the University of Sandon was. Her parents were both professors there.

She established herself as a brilliant young student very early on. There was the incident where she fired up a particle accelerator that was not yet completed and caused quite a bit of damage but otherwise she was a well behaved child.

She passed her college exams when she was sixteen and began working on her advanced studies. Astrophysics was her focus and more importantly she was studying the Gavaskar Field. It may be a cruel joke that Debendra Gavaskar, the man who initially discovered the field is not mostly forgotten while Max Gavaskar is now, incorrectly, given credit for the discovery.

Max certainly made her own discoveries and the Galaxy would not be where it is today if it were not for our little Max.

Never mix red wine and Oodo.

Philip Normer

Kushan Year 88

Earth Year 2480

Philip the Bard's Harappan Blog: Meet Max Gavaskar

Greetings mindful readers. Thanks for being here.

I have permission! It is going to happen! You and I, dear reader are getting an audience with Max Gavaskar herself. Next week I and my friend Dorian Thain have been invited to meet with her.

Of course everyone knows that her health is not great. She is bed bound and weak. I hear that her wit is as keen as ever and her mind as sharp as a tack. That will be something to look forward to, friends.

This week I’ll share some stories about Max and her history. We wont give away too much since the book that details her ascension is coming out this week too. “Kusha” will tell how Max helped Dorian return to power and what happened when she was sent to investigate something strange found on the far side of the planet.

Never mix red wine and Oodo.

Philip Normer

Kushan Year 88

Earth Year 2480

It's "Kusha Week" on Philip the Bard's Harappan Blog

Greetings wonderful readers. Thanks for being here.

It’s “Kusha Week”. Kusha comes out next week and all this week I’m spilling details and background.

Today I have a note for my Christian friends. One of the villainous groups driving the story in Kusha is the Knights of Tarsus. Most people with some historical knowledge understand the Tarsan reference points to Christianity. I want my Christian friends to know that for me the Tarsans don’t represent Christianity. They represent the part of Christianity that has turned their back on the core beliefs of the faith.

The Tarsans represent the Christians who have become political partisans. “The Christian Right” is, as I see it do not follow the teaching of the man they call the Christ.

But, what I really want my Christian friends to know is that I have redemption planned for the Tarsans. But by the end of the last book in the series the Earth will become known as the “Soul of the Galaxy”.

I am going to save the Tarsans. They will turn their back on their evil ways. 

Not right away. The Tarsans still have some nastiness left in them for Kusha.

Never mix red wine and Oodo.

Richard “Bubba” de la Tour

Earth year 2014

Kusha Week: Meet Lanice Thain

Greetings appreciated readers. Thanks for being here.

It’s “Kusha Week” here on Philip the Bard’s Harappan Blog. Kusha is the action packed follow-up to The Gavaskar Field. 

The Gavaskar Field introduced us to Max Gavaskar and a circle of friends who helped her evade and finally escape the SID who wanted her arrested for attempting to expose their dark secret.

When she escapes from planet Lava she and her new friend Dorian Thain go to planet Kusha where Max makes a huge discovery.

We’ll meet Philip the Bard himself and his wife Ina. We’ll meet several Cascadians who moved to Kusha with Dorian in the first wave.  Of course we’ll be introduced Dorian’s sister in law Lanice Thain and her son Paladin.

Paladin Thain senior was Dorian’s brother. He famously, led a terrorist war against the SID’s mining operation. He was able to stop a road construction project and forced the SID to move their operation. 

Sadly, he was killed by the SID on Harvest Day.  Lanice grew up assuming her life led to being his wife and the first lady of the White Mountain Clan. When Paladin was killed, Dorian was put in his place and she was out of the loop. She became bitter and angry. From the moment she arrived on Kusha she began planning agains’t Dorian and his friends.

We’ll also meet Paladin Jr. He turns out to not be his father.

Never mix red wine and Oodo.

Richard “Bubba” de la Tour

Earth year 2014

Philip the Bard's Harappan Blog: Kusha Week

Greetings good readers. Thanks for being here.

All this week on Philip the Bard’s Harappan Blog it Kusha Week. The second novel in my Max Gavaskar series is due out as an e book next week. So I’m taking this time on the blog to offer some background on the book.

Today we’re finishing up on who is Max Gavaskar. Yesterday I discussed some of the cultural issues that went into her creation.  What does she look like? Ten years or so ago National Geographic magazine did an article on beauty. In the article the posted a picture that was a composite of the features that people universally find most attractive. That picture is Max’s face. At the time, I must admit that I found the picture very captivating. I couldn’t take my eyes off it.

I see Max in the same way. She has an incredible face and a brilliant mind. But for Max the face does not matter. She has no clue what her beauty can do. She dresses down, wears little or no make up and ignores most of the attention her beauty draws to her.

She is short and slight. As a young woman she wore her hair long but while on the run from the SID she cut her hair to make it more difficult for the SID to trace her.

Tomorrow I’ll introduce you to some of the people we’ll meet in “Kusha”.

Never mix red wine and Oodo.

Richard “Bubba” de la Tour

Earth year 2014

Philip the Bard's Harappan Blog: Who is Max Pt 1

Greetings bright readers. Thanks for being here.

This is Kusha week all week here on the blog. The book is going through its final reader. She is half way through it and when completed I will turn it over to Kindle Direct at Amazon. Shortly after that it goes to My Space at Amazon to produce a paperback version.

Yesterday I told the tale of how Kusha came to be. To day we’ll talk about Max herself.

While I favor english as the primary language I wanted to include other cultures in the future history of the world. I fear that the U.S. is falling behind many other nations when it comes to education, specifically science education. If we don’t turn this around very soon the twenty-first will belong to other nations.

I wanted my hero to reflect the contribution other cultures are making to human progress. I chose to make her a multicultural person a “combo burrito” as we say in our family.

I wanted her strength to be in her brains and her heart. Literature is full of heroes who save the day with their muscle. 

I have always in my real life been drawn to flawed heroes. Napoleon for example. He wrote the constitution that France still uses yet we and history all know his foibles. Another hero of my was Baron Richthofen, the Red Baron. He was a brilliant soldier and ace despite being a poor flyer.

Max is overly emotional. Her heart gets in her way. She is a brilliant individual but she often lets events around her get her down.

But fear not, she does get down occasionally but she has gathered around her a group of friends and allies who do not get down at times and they will see that Max pushes on.

Never mix red wine and Oodo.

Richard “Bubba” de la Tour

Earth year 2014

Philip the Bard's Harappan Blog: Kusha Week

Greetings beloved readers. Thanks for being here.

Philip the Bard is taking this week off due to the release of Kusha within the next week to ten days. All this week I will be telling the tale of how Kusha came to be.

Kusha is the exciting sequel to The Gavaskar Field, released just a few months ago. Both novels grew out of my Harappan History Project.

The Harappan History Project began in 1973. I had just finished reading Lord of the Rings. I was pondering what and where was “Middle Earth”. I speculated: “What if Middle Earth was settled by humans from planet Earth and then after many generations Earth was forgotten.”

That of course leads to the question; “What if people from modern Earth showed up at Middle Earth?”

I wrote a short story over the next few days based on this concept. In it there were elves and wizards (who weren’t really wizards, they just called themselves that) and deep dark secrets. I never quite finished this story. I carried it as a stack of spiral notebooks for decades, always thinking about revisiting it and completing the project.

A few years ago I moved to Nelson British Columbia so my partner could attend art college there. I wan’t able to get a work visa so I had some time on my hands. I got a new lap top and went to work on the story. It wound up being a one hundred and eighty thousand word saga of loyalty, betrayal and ended with the ruination of planet Harappa.

The conclusion had our hero, Dorian Thain lead the Harappan people to a new world called Kusha. The Harappan people rode off into the sunset and all was good in the Universe.

Seems that the publishing world wont even look at such a long novel from an unknown author. In thinking about ways to market the Harappan saga I came up with the idea of writing a series of short stories that I could sell to magazines and such. I decided to write twenty stories. I thought that would make a good TV season.

I wanted the stories to show the underbelly of the Universe my stories were taking place in. On a long drive, my partner and I came up with the germ for Max Gavaskar. A brilliant young college student who discovers the dark secret about humanities’ faster than light starships. That puts her on the run in the dusty back water town of Salmo on planet Lava. 

While writing these stories I came to love little Max. I came to understand that she was the key to the larger story. Dorian’s story led up to Max and Max’s story leads up to the conclusion of my dream. When Max’s story is done I will most likely be done with science fiction. (I have other writing projects I am looking forward to.)

So, I turned Max’s series of short stories into a novel and published it last fall. (For those of you who have read it, please understand that I was in a rush to put it out and the first edition contains many typos. A second edition will be out soon.)

While the manuscript was at the editors I had nothing to do so I started writing Kusha. It just poured out of me over the course of a few short weeks. In no time I had a completed manuscript. The plot is much more complicated than The Gavaskar Field and it required more work insuring that timelines matched and such. However, the story is much more action driven and my strength as an author is action, so the writing flowed and felt easy for me.

I’ve had many heated discussion with my partner about character motivation and plot points and I feel strongly that I have put together a fine story. I hope you will enjoy it.

Tomorrow: The Creation of Max Gavaskar

Never mix red wine and Oodo.

Richard “Bubba” de la Tour

Earth year 2014

Bubba the Science Guy: The End of the Universe

Greetings intrepid readers. Thanks for being here.

I am not a scientist. I am a big fan of science.

I am a positive person and I try to live in the moment for the most part. For today, however, lets consider the worst possible scenario. The end of the Universe. What will it be? When will it be? Will it be at all? Will the Universe go on forever?

Since the answer to “when” seems to be somewhere between billions of years from now and never, these are questions that don’t often enter our daily thoughts. That is unless you are a science geek like me. Almost everyday I spend some time pondering the Cosmos. How old is it? How big is it? etc.

I wonder how often others think on this (any comments on this would be loved and responded to). I know there are many people who never consider these things. A large percentage of Americans don’t even know that the Earth orbits our sun. That just boggles my mind. For me, trying to understand the universe that I have been given the opportunity to explore is one of the great meanings of life.

So, what have I come up with, after all this pondering? 

Gavaskar Field Theory. I gave a brief explanation of this last week so I wont repeat it here. Gavaskar Field Theory does make some predictions about the end of the Universe.

For a long time I was a subscriber to the Big Crunch Theory. This is a belief that the Universe will eventually collapse into it self and cause another Big Bang. This made a great deal of sense to me as it implies a universal cycle. Cycles are everywhere in nature and I see them as one of the most important drivers of natural processes.

Then calculations came back from our astronomers claiming that perhaps there is not enough matter in the Universe to cause this to happen, That brought the Big Chill Theory, which believes that the Universe will eventually spread out into a cold and mostly empty waste. I never followed this theory since it implies a finality.

I believe that the true theory of the end of the Universe will contain within it the theory of the creation of the next Universe.

What does Gavaskar Field Theory say about this?  The structure of the Universe, The Gavaskar Field, operates much like a soap bubble. As it expands it stretches and becomes thinner. Eventually the structure becomes too weak and it pops, much like a soap bubble. The Big Pop will be the end of our universe. Without the expanding Gavaskar Field supporting the mass in the Universe, gravity takes over and the matter starts gathering. It would look something like a universal sized galaxy. As matter gathers eventually a black hole will form in the center. This will speed the process and as the final matter falls into the Universal Black Hole a new Big Bang is created. A new universe is born from the ashes of ours.

A note on capitalization: When I am referring to the universe contained within our won Gavaskar Field I use the capitalized, Universe. When I am referring to the universe as the all encompassing collection of matter we see I use the un-capitalized, universe.

Never mix red wine with Oodo.

Earth Year 2014